Agenda item

Report of the Director of City Services

The Board received a Briefing Note providing an update on the part-night Lighting.

At the Council meeting held on 20^th February 2024, the Council agreed, as part of the budget setting process, to introduce citywide part-night lighting.  The programming of the streetlights started in May 2024 and all eligible streetlights were programmed by July 2024.  It was estimated approximately 70% of lights would operate part-night however, once the criteria had been applied, this reduced to 60% (excluding the City Centre).

The part-night lighting was estimated to make savings of the street lighting electricity budget by £700,000 and this funding would be used to protect other vital services.  Due to the decrease from 70% to 60% of lights, programming of the lights taking 2 months and the reduction in the cost of energy from October 2024, the saving target had been reduced to £600,000.  Savings from the part-night from May to December 2024 had been approximately £350,000 based on 38pkwh.  The Council’s energy price reduced to 26pkwh from October 2024.

The Police had conducted a review of the part-night lighting and found no evidence of crime going up as a result of the changes in street lighting.  It was noted that there had been a reduction in night-time collisions during the hours of the part-night switch off.

A petition bearing 1482 signatures to switch the lights back on had been received.  The petition had been discussed with the Cabinet Member for City Services who had agreed to issue a determination letter advising that the part-night lighting policy would continue as there had not been any increases in crime.

The upgrading of 29,500 street lighting to LEDs was agreed at Council on 14 January 2025.  The LED lighting would provide a better quality of light but use half the amount of energy.  The upgrade would also provide Council with more flexibility over the street lighting.

An Equality Impact Assessment had been carried out and it was found that there were groups of people that could be negatively impacted by the part-night lighting however, as the police had reported there had not been an increase in criminal activity.

West Midlands Police provided an overview of police data for the period since thepart night street lighting had been introduced,

In considering the briefing note, the Board questioned officers, received responses and discussed matters as summarised below:

• Any crime related issues concerning the part-night light switch off were discussed regularly in partnership with local policing and community safety colleagues. Community meetings were held to understand where crime/anti-social behaviour trends were taking place in the city.
• Car crime in Coventry from May 2024 – November 2024 was below trend.
• Police data was intelligence led rather than being published figures.  Data showed that crime was expected to be the same as before the part-night light switch off.
• Information regarding the fear of crime, not specifically relating to the part-night switch off had been included within the report.  Residents were being encouraged to report crime via social media.
• The LED lights were not adaptive however, sensor ports would be included.  The LED lights would switch on at a certain lighting level and then dim to a possible 30%.  LED lights which were sensitive to movement would incur an additional capital spend.
• Data was being collected from the Foleshill Road as a trial site where the lights were being kept on all night however, data was currently not sufficient to indicate high or low footfall or vehicle usage.
• Residents who worked during the night had not been contacted for their opinions on the part-night lights.
• A community safety plan was currently being developed which would include crime surveys.  Officers were engaging with communities across the city to address fears and encourage residents to report crime.
• A decrease in collisions and reported accidents with street lighting columns and street furniture had been seen from May 2024 – November 2024.
• For safety reasons, streetlights had not been switched off surrounding pedestrian crossings in the city.  New heritage streetlights would be installed around the pedestrian crossing outside the Council House in March/April 2025.
• The new LED lighting would be starting in the Autumn 2025.
• The 25 year PFI contract started in 2010.  Lamps had been replaced every 6 years in line with maintenance.  The LED lights would not require to be replaced as frequently and once the upgrade was complete, £1.7m of maintenance savings would be returned to the city council.
• Data provided by West Midlands Police provided an overview of the statistics which established a baseline and identified whether there had been any exceptional crime patterns, but did not look into finer details or further into the causes. No exceptional patterns had been identified
• West Midlands Police did not hold data relating to non-crime related injuries.

The Board requested the following information:

• Include part-night light switch off in the crime survey parameters and provide further information relating to the fear of crime when streetlights were off.
• Provision of increase/decrease of temporal data.
• Future reports relating to the budget savings to provide a financial breakdown.
• Data relating to personal injuries sustained during the part-night light switch off.

The Cabinet Member for City Services welcomed the report highlighting the concerns she had received from early morning shift workers regarding the part-night light switch off.  She also made reference to the importance of good driving, in particular, around pedestrian crossings and also, pavement lighting and how much this would be dimmed down to enable uneven pavements and potholes to still be visible.

RESOLVED that the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4):

1)  Supports the continuation of the Part-night lighting.

2)  Requests that any policy decisions on roll out and levels of LED lighting come to the Board before a decision is made.